Chapter 23 Winning the Beauty’s Heart

But at this moment, Ling Tian dared not act rashly. If he truly forced a desperate confrontation, the female ghost might harm Li Youran's body. Now, he was truly riding a tiger and unable to dismount, and had lost all thought of intimacy with the beauty.

The female ghost sensed Ling Tian stopping his actions on her body and withdrew her head from Ling Tian's lower region. A trace of contempt curled at her lips as she sneered, "I underestimated you. You can still perceive it's me at this moment? But if you press me, I'll perish together with this body!"

"Hmph! Even if you borrowed my sister's body, it can't change your base nature. Want to fight me? You're not even close! But I'm curious—why didn't you strike me down when I was intoxicated just now?" Ling Tian retorted with a cold laugh.

"It's been centuries, and I've never tasted such pleasure. If you hadn't stopped just now, you could have completely possessed this body—it's still untouched. Wouldn't we both get what we want? Want to continue? Being intimate with you feels rather nice, hehe." As she spoke, the female ghost flirtatiously winked at Ling Tian.

"Alright, but this time, I’ll savor it properly," Ling Tian said, pulling the female ghost into his embrace. Of course, this exquisite body was still Li Youran's. As he spoke, he caressed her skin.

Under his touch, the female ghost gradually became intoxicated, her body succumbing to passion.

Seeing the moment was ripe, Ling Tian swiftly produced several silver needles and pierced them into key acupoints on Li Youran’s body: Hegu, Quchi, and Dazhui. These points could stimulate the body's Yang energy.

Hegu is on the large intestine meridian, where Yang energy is most abundant; Quchi is on the Yangming meridian, rich in Qi and blood; Dazhui is on the Governor vessel, pure Yang and the gathering point of Yang energy in the body.

Yang conquers Yin.

As soon as the needles were inserted, Li Youran fell unconscious, but the female ghost’s soul was forced out of her body, glaring furiously at Ling Tian.

"Wretch! Today I'll make your soul scatter!"

Seeing that the female ghost could no longer harm Li Youran, Ling Tian felt a wave of relief and began to attack the ghost with the Blazing Sun Palm. Each palm strike was pure Yang energy, the nemesis of such Yin entities.

The female ghost managed to withstand a few strikes at first, but soon weakened, and tried to flee. Yet the entire room was shrouded in Yang energy, her aura becoming increasingly unstable and beginning to dissipate.

"Die!" Ling Tian saw her form collapsing and unleashed a final blow.

"Ah—"

With the ghost's last horrific scream, the battle ended. Not a trace of her remained, utterly vanished. Ling Tian removed the Yang energy barrier, restoring the room to normal.

But seeing the unconscious Li Youran, Ling Tian felt troubled. How had he nearly lost control just now? Fortunately, he hadn't crossed the final line.

Thank goodness Li Youran was still unconscious. Ling Tian dressed her in her undershirt, panties, sleep pants, and finally even put on her conservative silk nightgown, lest he give in to temptation.

Li Youran’s unconsciousness was partly due to the ghost's possession weakening her soul, and partly because Ling Tian had stimulated so much Yang energy in her body, which clashed with her Nine Yin physique, overwhelming her.

Ling Tian took out silver needles again and pricked her acupoints for a while before Li Youran slowly awakened.

"Sister, are you feeling better?" Ling Tian asked with genuine concern.

"Mm, I feel warmer than before. Xiaotian, did you drive away that female ghost?" Li Youran recalled what had happened, fear reappearing in her eyes.

"No, not driven away." Ling Tian was still anxious, unsure whether Li Youran remembered what happened when the ghost possessed her and entwined with him, so he cautiously probed.

"Ah! Not driven away? Where is she?" Li Youran clung to Ling Tian in terror, scanning the room.

"Sister, you truly don’t remember?" Ling Tian asked apprehensively.

"I remember she lunged at me, then I lost consciousness. What happened afterward? I thought I was doomed." Li Youran spoke with lingering dread.

"Uh, later I struck her down, scattering her soul, and then you woke up."

Hearing Li Youran’s words, Ling Tian finally felt at ease; otherwise, he really wouldn’t know how to face her.

"Thank you, Xiaotian. She really won’t come back, right?" Li Youran was still incredulous that Ling Tian could destroy a ghost—she hadn’t expected it at all.

"She won’t, I promise. But let’s change this bed. Sister, you mustn’t casually buy antiques anymore; there could be ghosts attached." Ling Tian cautioned Li Youran. She loved classical things, loved hunting for antiques, but given her Nine Yin physique, buying antiques was far too dangerous.

"Alright, I’ll throw out the bed tomorrow and buy a new one. You don’t know how expensive it was—I really liked it, too." Li Youran was reluctant to part with it, since it was an authentic huanghuali wood-carved bed. Such a pity.

"Mm, it’s still a few hours until dawn. Sister, go back to sleep." Ling Tian had spent considerable true energy fighting the ghost, especially Yang energy, and was genuinely exhausted.

"Okay!" Li Youran obediently lay beside Ling Tian, wanting to get closer yet feeling shy, finally closing her eyes with some anxiety. After she lost consciousness, she had a dream—she dreamed of being intimate with Ling Tian. The feeling made her blush, yet it was sweet and even somewhat addictive.

Li Youran had no idea it wasn’t a dream, but that the ghost had used her body with Ling Tian. If she knew, she wouldn’t have the courage to face him now. Not knowing was for the best.

After all the chaos, Ling Tian had no intention of taking advantage of Li Youran anymore and soon fell asleep. Unconsciously, he pulled Li Youran into his arms. Li Youran, full of thoughts and unable to sleep, did not resist his embrace. Instead, she showed a sweet smile in his arms...

The next day, Ling Tian intended to accompany Li Youran to buy a bed, but she decided to order a replica wooden bed online, never daring to buy antique beds again.

After breakfast, Li Youran became busy—she had to choose a bed and attend class. Ling Tian also prepared to leave, as he couldn’t stay here forever. After this night, their relationship had deepened considerably. It would not be an exaggeration to call them boyfriend and girlfriend, though Li Youran had not officially agreed to be his girlfriend yet.

...

Ling Tian was in a wonderful mood. Although he had not won Li Youran last night, the female ghost’s entanglement had let him profit greatly, and he felt he had captured the beauty’s heart.

He hadn’t expected things with Li Youran to go so smoothly. After all, his purpose in coming to this university was Li Youran and Lin Youya.

Lin Youya!

Thinking of this difficult girl, Ling Tian felt a sense of frustration, yet his fighting spirit was aroused even more.

Song Xiaomei had already returned to the university and was pursuing Shi Xiaocai with great effort. Ling Tian decided he should quicken his pace to win Lin Youya. He had boasted before that he would win Lin Youya, Li Youran, the cold policewoman Han Bing, and the governor’s daughter Song Ziyue.

A man’s word is his bond.

The road to winning beauties is long and arduous; I will seek it high and low.

Humming an off-key tune, Ling Tian walked briskly back to his apartment. He wanted to get more information about Lin Youya from Song Xiaomei through Shi Xiaocai. A good woman is not afraid of persistent men, and with his qualities, he was certain he could win Lin Youya.

Back at the apartment, none of his friends were up yet. Ling Tian mentally scoffed at them and went straight to Shi Xiaocai’s room.

"Shi Xiaocai, is this how a monk should behave? Monks are supposed to rise early for morning prayers, fetch water, chop wood, sweep the floor. You? It’s already nine and you’re still sleeping!"

Ling Tian pulled Shi Xiaocai’s blanket away, starting to lecture him. In his past life, he’d had dealings with monks—they were indeed diligent. Shi Xiaocai was the first lazy monk he’d met. Of course, Ling Tian wasn’t truly lecturing him; he simply wanted to banter and amuse himself.

"Ling Tian? You’re back? Last night, Song Xiaomei kept me up half the night. I’ve barely slept a few hours. Let me rest a bit more," Shi Xiaocai said, snatching the blanket back and continuing to sleep.

"What? Song Xiaomei kept you up half the night? So you lost your virginity?"

Ling Tian immediately became interested, eyeing Shi Xiaocai mischievously.

"No, Song Xiaomei kept pestering me to teach her martial arts. Don’t let your imagination run wild." Shi Xiaocai replied lightly, but a bit guilty, since Song Xiaomei had taken plenty of liberties with him, and he’d almost lost his chastity.

"Yeah right! I bet you taught her bedroom techniques! Get up, all of you! Today you’re coming with me to pursue Lin Youya! The more people, the greater the momentum, haha."

Ling Tian continued to pester Shi Xiaocai and pulled his blanket off again...

Thus, Ling Tian managed to rouse Shi Xiaocai, Dai Jin, and Yuan Bao. Although they all wanted to sleep longer, when they heard they’d be helping Ling Tian pursue Lin Youya, they loyally got up—though in reality, they just wanted to watch the drama, especially Dai Jin, who didn’t believe Ling Tian could win Lin Youya.

Ling Tian called Song Xiaomei and learned from her that Lin Youya was heading to an elective class in the university’s largest lecture hall, a course titled "The Thirty-Six Stratagems," open to all students.

Every student at Jianghai University had to choose a military course. Compared to more specialized military courses, The Thirty-Six Stratagems was easier to learn and thus very popular, with over three hundred students attending at the same time.

The marketplace is like the battlefield. Lin Youya, who studied finance, thought the course was excellent and rarely missed it.

"Ling Tian, you’re about to pursue Lin Youya in front of hundreds of students—change your outfit! I’ll pay!" Dai Jin couldn’t help but comment on Ling Tian’s ordinary casual attire, which he felt was unworthy of Lin Youya.